1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to ships for space travel and particularly to propulsions systems for such ships which are able to harness the radiations in space and minimize the resistance caused by various space particles which impact upon the front of the ship.
2. Prior Art
The prevailing opinion among scientists is that our nearest star, Proxima, is about twenty-five trillion miles away. However, this is challenged by many who contend that the methods used to calibrate this distance are not conclusive. The actual distance is estimated to be between twenty-five trillion and twenty-five billion miles. The solar wind, which is far more tangible than light, has an estimated velocity of 300 miles per second. If Proxima were proven to be twenty-five billion miles instead of twenty-five trillion then it would take only twenty-six years to reach there instead of two thousand and six hundred years sailing with the velocity of the solar wind. There are numerous reasons to be skeptical about the true distances to our neighboring stars. Their distances are frequently calculated on the basis of the velocity of light. Hubbles law regarding the velocity of the expanding Universe is said to be too circumstantial to serve as a guide for measuring such distances The Doppler effect of the red shift is used in conjunction with the wave length and the assumed velocity of light to determine stellar distances. This criterion for deciding the distances of stars is by no means absolute, and cannot be relied upon to convince us positively that Proxima is 4.3 light years away.
Variations in the densities of different regions of space can adversely affect the accuracy of measurements of stellar distances.
Scientists are confused about the meaning of the velocity of light because they are not certain whether they are measuring the velocity of individual photon, or whether they are measuring the time lapse between the impact against the first photon of many contiguous photons within a ray of photons, and the reverberation of the last photon at the end of the ray as it excites the retina of the observer. It is difficult to distinguish between the velocity of a photon and the velocity of a repercussion through a row of contiguous photons.
We can be assured that if Proxima is twenty-five billion miles away instead of twenty-five trillion our hopes of colonizing the planets surrounding it would be far more realistic.
Further doubt can be cast upon the accuracy of stellar distances which are measured by reliance upon perceptible parallaxes. As light from a star passes by a large celestial body on its way to the observer on earth, its line of flight is bent away. This will have an enormous effect on calculating the distance of that star. The true distance of that star could be distorted by as much as a thousand times.
A number of ambitious ideas have been researched in an attempt to solve the problems inherent in our hopes to travel to the planets of our nearest stars. None of them are considered feasible at this time, because of the restrictions imposed by the elements of time, distances, fuel, velocities and storage space. The most significant systems are listed below.
First: The Fuel Jet Propulsion System. It is considered futile to even contemplate the likelihood that the most sophisticated of our latest plans and designs could overcome the obstacles.
Second: Mirror Matter Annihilation Propulsion System. One of the most intriguing machines proposed for development in programs for interstellar travel is based upon the costly production of antimatter by bombarding atoms in accelerators which generate an enormous amount of heat and energy. Official reports indicate that the efficiency is fantastic. Unfortunately, however, it would be necessary to carry along an excessive amount of reacting materials to operate the jets. The government has invested heavily in producing this super charged material which is difficult to store, but it is not enthusiastic about its potential. However, the system has been recommended highly by theoretical scientists and by recipients of the Nobel Award. This substance is reputed to be more than a thousand times as powerful as nuclear fission, but it seems that it would bankrupt the world to attempt to procure the amount needed to reach the stars.
Third: Controlled Nuclear Propulsion. A tremendous amount of financing by government agencies has been appropriated for various engineering experimentations to control the fusion of hydrogen and helium atoms to generate the heat to activate jet particles for acceleration for spacecraft. Efforts to control the fusion has, to this date, been a dismal failure.
Fourth: The Electric Ion Propulsion System. In this type of spacecraft electricity is used to generate ions which, it is said, are deflected against an inert structure at the rear of the spacecraft to produce the forward thrust. The sun is the usual source of the energy to produce the electricity through the use of solar cells. Since the power of the solar cells are weakened as they leave the environment of the solar system, the spacecraft can serve a number of useful purposes in interplanetary flight, but it has no recognized potential for interstellar travel.
Fifth: Uncontrolled Bombs for Nuclear Propulsion. The uncontrolled explosion of nuclear bombs has not yet been put to any serious test, and there is no exact criterion for evaluation of its usefulness.
Sixth: The Fission Ramjet: The interstellar Ram Jet invented by Robert Bussard in 1960 was hoped to be unincumbered with the massive volume of fuel usually contemplated for spaceships destined for flights into the remote distance. He has planned that hydrogen would be scooped up from space, and that fusion in a reactor would provide it with the necessary acceleration. Whether the scoop will work is seriously questioned because of the existence of Pascal's hydrostatic paradox. The scoop is shaped like a horn. Its larger frontal opening has a diameter much greater than the diameter of the rear opening, yet the flow of hydrogen through each opening should remain about equal. So there would be no appreciable advantage gained by the shape of the enormous scoop. It is not expected that this apparatus will find much success in the foreseeable future.
Seventh: Laser Beams to Push Sails on Spaceships. Scientists and engineers are now conducting experiments by focusing laser beams on vast sails of light durable materials. Some of the sails are six hundred miles in length. The pressure of the laser beams against the sails are expected to accelerate the craft to half the speed of light. These are ambitious efforts and there are many skeptics about its chances of success.